Thomas was absolutely enthralled by L.A. Confidential – and Rob was absolutely enthralled by him. The rocker sat on the couch and watched Thomas watch the movie, fascinated by the varied expressions running across that cute little face. He’d seen it enough times that he didn’t have to pay attention himself, which gave him free rein to do a bit of ‘Thomas watching’ instead. He smiled as the accountant gasped a little at the part where the evil lieutenant revealed to Ed Exley that he’d been the one who killed Kevin Spacey’s character, by asking the newly made detective-lieutenant about Rollo Tomasi. Guy Peirce’s reaction to this question was an astonishing piece of acting – his eyes went a bit flat, and his jaw clenched, but he showed no other signs of shock as his character concealed his reaction masterfully from the lieutenant.

Rob loved that part of the movie. But then, it had occurred to him this evening that Thomas reminded him more than a bit of Guy Peirce in this movie – glasses and a somewhat nerdy exterior hiding a razor sharp mind and a will of steel. Both the fictional character and the man sitting beside him on the couch had a lot of drive. Thomas had simply needed a trigger – i.e., the ravishing of his precious rosebushes – to show those qualities instead of passive-aggressively stewing in his anger at his neighbor. Rob had to admire him for his eventual retaliation, when many people would simply have gone on stewing in their own juices until they were completely stressed out and compromised their health. People who internalized their anger were often worse off than those who inappropriately externalized it all of the time. They were the ones who ended up buying guns and shooting up their places of work, or who died early of stress induced heart attacks.

He was thinking about very carefully extending his arm across the back of the couch soon, until it was draped behind Thomas’s shoulders. A casual maneuver that had worked many times for him in the past. It was easy from there to move his arm forward until he was actually touching the accountant’s shoulders. It was sort of like trying to coax a wary wild animal with food – you had to do it slowly and a bit at a time, and always act casual and non-threatening as you did so. Eventually he’d end up with the other man perched on his hand, so to speak. Or he’d get to pet that wary little animal...mm, nice thought.

He reached into the bowl that Thomas had put the popcorn in and grabbed a handful, munching it contentedly. Rob was really enjoying himself, just hanging out with his neighbor like this. Who would have thought it? Usually he liked noise and crowds and excitement, all things that Thomas eschewed completely. But while he was a little sad that the accountant would never come to one of the clubs to see his band play, he really didn’t mind this kind of thing at all. Besides, being alone with the other man had distinct advantages. He didn’t have to wait until they got home to start a make out session, for example, since they already were home. Well, in Thomas’s home anyway. A quiet room, a comfy couch, and thou…

He grinned at this thought as he swallowed the last of the popcorn. Time to make his move, such as it was. Rob sat back against the couch and very, very slowly reached up with his arm to lay it along the back of the couch. Thomas was so engrossed in the movie that he didn’t catch the movement out of the corner of his eye. So far, so good. The rocker slid it a little further along, almost behind Thomas’s back now. He turned his eyes to the t.v. screen so that it would appear that he was as interested in the movie as Thomas was, and that what he was doing would seem like something he’d done unconsciously instead of a planned maneuver.

Further, further…his arm was stretched out all along the back of the couch, and he could have reached out and touched Thomas’s right shoulder with his hand. His fingers itched to stroke the soft brown hair, but he restrained himself. Didn’t want to give himself away just yet. He peacefully watched the fight at the Victory Motel on the screen, letting his hand just lie on top of the back of the couch, so close and yet so far from his real target…

Thomas sighed as the movie came to an end. “That was excellent,” he told Rob. “Thank you for bringing it over.”

“You’re welcome. I thought you’d like it; it’s one of my favorites,” the rocker replied easily.

“I can see why. It was a very intelligent film noir,” the accountant noted. “Would you like some coffee or water before we start the next one?”

Rob shook his head. “I’m fine. Thanks for getting the beer, though. I really like the imported stuff. Except for ale; that stuff is too thick and weird for my tastes.”

“I’m glad that you enjoyed it. I have never cared for beer myself,” Thomas replied primly.

The rocker laughed. “No, you don’t strike me as a beer kind of guy.” He yawned a little, stretching, and his arm moved on the back of the couch. He was within centimeters of touching Thomas now… “I’ll just change the movies,” Thomas said, but then froze and got rather wide eyed as he felt something touch his shoulder. A hand curled lightly over it, not pressing but just lying there. “Oh, sorry,” he heard Rob say lazily. “I was just stretching.” His voice was completely innocent, but Thomas wasn’t sure that he believed the other man all the same.

That hand was now doing the most wonderful thing – making lazy circles over the silky fabric of his shirt. “This is a great shirt,” Rob noted softly, and something in his voice made Thomas quiver. He didn’t try to protest the hand; he simply sat there on the couch and tried to breathe properly.

“T-Thank you,” he managed to stammer after a moment. “I like it as well.”

“You should; it looks great on you. Good color for you and everything. And it’s so soft…” Rob said, lightly squeezing his shoulder now.

Thomas wondered dimly if he were going to start hyperventilating at any moment. That insouciant, wicked hand slid over his shoulder and found the side of his neck instead, making his gasp. Then it was cradling his jaw in a feather soft touch. “But the shirt isn’t any nicer looking than the guy wearing it,” Rob purred. “Nor is it any softer,” he added, his fingers sketching Thomas’s jaw.

Oh God, he couldn’t move! Thomas’s chest heaved as that hand began to gently but firmly turn his head toward Rob. He met a pair of sparkling black eyes as sensual lips lifted in a cat-who’d-just-swallowed-the-canary smile. The rocker began to lean forward, his mouth drawing nearer and nearer to Thomas’s…and then it closed over his, and the accountant moaned as he was kissed for the second time in his life by his sexy neighbor. A tongue licked at the seam of his lips this time, and when he gasped in surprise, it insinuated itself inside of his mouth. Thomas might have panicked at this juncture, but somehow everything about this just seemed so right. So he stayed still and let Rob teach him all about the delights of kissing, in a long, slow sensuous display that left him light-headed and reeling on the couch.

Rob finally pulled back, more than a little regretfully. He rested his forehead against Thomas’s for a moment. “Man, you’ll be the death of me,” he ground out in a husky voice. “But I consider it to be the best way I could possibly go,” he added with a lazy smile.

Thomas didn’t know what to say in reply. Not that he could speak coherently yet anyway. He stared deep into Rob’s eyes, feeling lost in them but not minding. The rocker sighed, caressing his jaw with a hand before pulling back completely. “I’d love to do that all night,” he remarked regretfully, “But since this is our first date and only your second kissing session, I’ll be a good boy and stop it now. Unless you want to go on?” he asked hopefully.

“I…” Thomas put a hand to his head to stop it from whirling. “I would like to…” he began, making Rob brighten. “But…”

“Yeah, but,” Rob said. “I understand. We’ll take this slow, even if it kills me. I want you to be totally comfortable with me before we do anything hot and heavy. While I’d love to just jump you and carry you off to he bedroom, I know that you’re not ready for that. And I’m willing to wait until you are, no matter what it takes.”

Thomas felt gratitude run through him (along with a faint trace of disappointment). “Thank you, Rob. You’re far kinder than I would have imagined before this.” He said seriously.

Rob shrugged. “Hey, I gotta be kind, right? I’ve already been pretty unkind about a lot of things where you’re concerned; I gotta make it up to you.”

Thomas didn’t know what to say, but Rob smiled and patted his knee. “Go put on the other movie,” he told Thomas. “Then we can watch it and maybe do something little like hold hands or something. I haven’t held hands with anyone since I was in grade school,” he added wryly as the accountant got to his feet with only a slight bit of difficulty, “But I could brush up on it again.”

Thomas took L.A. Confidential out of the DVD player and put it neatly in its case, then substituted Equilibrium. He was enjoying this evening far more than he could ever have imagined a month ago when he and Rob were still feuding. If anyone had told him then that he would be dating his horrible neighbor, he would have laughed them out of the room. Moreover, if they’d also told him that he’d really like going out with Rob, he would have been in a state of near hysteria from laughing so hard. How quickly things could change! Usually he’d be freaking out over any kind of change in his life, but not this time. Maybe because this particular change was too good to be upset about.

He hit ‘play’ in the DVD player and came back to the couch, setting L.A. Confidential in its case onto the coffee table. Then he took his seat next to Rob once more, casting a shy glance at the other man that made Rob want to pounce on him very badly. It took all of his will power not to just push the man down on the couch and take him here and now. Over and over again, until the light of morning was seeping in under the blinds and they were both exhausted. He gritted his teeth and limited himself to taking Thomas’s hand, which was an even further torture because the man blushed so charmingly when he did so.

“See, this isn’t so bad,” he said as casually as he could. He caressed Thomas’s hand with his own, and heard a soft gasp. He grinned, for despite his acute discomfort and raging horniness, he was still enjoying himself thoroughly.

They watched Equilibrium together, still holding hands. Rob concentrated on the movie to keep himself from doing anything he shouldn’t. Not to mention the fact that he really liked this movie; the fight scenes were awesome. And Christian Bale in all those cool looking clothes, plus him being half naked during his panic attack scene…Lord, watching him press his body to the glass always got Rob going. He’d never wanted to be a pane of glass more in his entire life. From the intent expression on Thomas’s face, he liked that scene too.

He heard small sounds of awe during the final sword battle when Christian Bale’s character was slicing up the traitorous men who’d killed so many others for feeling but didn’t suppress their own emotions. He glanced over, seeing that the brown eyes were wide and the rather pale cheeks a bit flushed. Rob wanted to groan. He closed his eyes, fighting himself back down again with a Herculean effort. The warmth of Thomas’s hand in his own was not helping at all. ‘God, I want him so bad’ he thought to himself miserably.

“My, that was marvelous,” Thomas breathed next to him. “So exciting.”

“Yeah,” Rob croaked, opening his eyes cautiously. “I’m glad you liked it too. Uh, listen. I need to get going; I just remembered that I forgot to feed my cat again. She’s gonna be majorly pissed at me,” he leapt to his feet, needing to get home to ‘spend some time with himself’.

Thomas stared up at him, startled, clearly wondering why Rob seemed so eager to get out of his house. “Oh,” he said in a small voice. “Of course. Thank you for bringing the movies over, Rob. I’ll just get that one for you…” he rose to his feet; his shoulders slumped, and shuffled off toward the DVD player.

Taken aback, the rocker stared at him in puzzlement. What the hell? Why did Thomas suddenly look like a kicked puppy? He walked swiftly over and touched the accountant’s arm. “Hey, Thomas, what’s the matter?” he asked in concern.

The other man stood with his head slightly turned away, not looking at Rob. “Nothing,” he whispered. “I know…” he began in a much stronger voice, “That you probably don’t want to see me anymore. I understand…”

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Rob nearly shouted, making the brown eyes fly to his face in startlement.

“I just assumed…that you wanted to leave so quickly because you realized that…I’m not that interesting a person, and really I can understand that…” Thomas said, and then gulped at the thunderous expression on Rob’s face. He grabbed Thomas’s arms and yanked the man up against him.

“I don’t want to leave because I think you’re boring,” he growled. Then he grabbed the accountant’s hips and pulled him even closer, making the man aware of the erection straining against his belly. He gasped, his eyes going wide again. “I NEED to leave, because otherwise I’m going to lose it and do something really bad to you right here in your living room.”

“Oh,” Thomas said, and it was almost a moan. Color was swarming up in his cheeks. Ron shuddered. Then he kissed the accountant hard for a moment, and then pulled back and turned away to grab his movies.

“I’ll see you tomorrow evening,” he told Thomas over his shoulder. “We can hang out again, or maybe go somewhere. Okay?”

Thomas nodded mutely, his face bright red but also with a pleased expression on it. He was happy to know that Rob wanted him so badly, since he’d assumed that the man didn’t want him at all which was why he was leaving so quickly. Rob winked at him and hurried out the door with a wave, leaving the accountant standing in his living room thinking to himself that this had been a very successful evening after all.